Participants in peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing programs such as Kazaa or Freenet are staunch defenders of freedom of speech. P2P networks work by the use of software to allow end users (you and me) to be able to access and download other users shared files. Shared files are the files that an individual user has chosen to share with other users on a network. Kazaa is the most numerous of these programs with over ten million members in the U.S. and over four hundred thousand downloads every day. Freenet is the newest of the P2P programs with advanced encryption and anonymity capabilities.

The Recording industry has been adamant on its view that file sharing has been instrumental in the falling CD, music sales on the internet and in stores like Wal-Mart there are other reasons for this drop. Traditional music sales are off 6 percent, and online sales are off 20 percent for the first half of the year, according to a comScore Media Metrix study. However, these numbers are misleading, CDBaby, of Portland, Oregon, the second largest online retailer of independent online artists, said its sales have doubled since last year. The comScore study reflects a backlash against mainstream music, and the rising popularity of unsigned bands. Secondly, the current economy has affected the consumer in adverse ways. Consumers no longer have the expendable income that they used to and are no longer buying just anything. The public is not readily buying big name artists, they now prefer local bands and artists; this coupled with the sluggish economy is the reason for bad sales not P2P file sharing.

What these politicians and the RIAA have ignored, or have conveniently forgotten about, is that P2P networks have been essential in the transfer of information in other countries where freedom of speech and freedom of the press is controlled or non-existent. Freenet has been used in China to convey information on the government and events such as the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Such information has been nearly impossible to spread since the Chinese government controls all forms of the media. Freenet has allowed individuals in China to share documents that the government has been trying to censor without the fear of being found out and arrested. The unique ability of Fr

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